EHG5453 - Watching brief - Pitch and Putt, Castle Stuart Golf Club

Archaeological monitoring and recording was undertaken by Highland Archaeology Services in 2018 to mitigate the impact of development ground works for the construction of a Clubhouse pitch and putting course and a new services access track at Castle Stuart Golf Links. Topsoil stripping for the trackway and pitch and putt course revealed a series of mostly undated archaeological deposits and features that included a number of small pits and postholes, one of which is provisionally dated by a single pottery sherd to the later prehistoric period. A single undated animal burial was also identified. Further soil features of possible archaeological significance were examined and judged to be of natural origin or associated with scrub burning. Other identified features included a former agricultural field boundary shown on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map and a large cobble land drain, the latter relating to 19th century agricultural improvements. A further large linear feature was concluded to represent a modern evaluation trench. The archaeological evidence identified during the fieldwork is consistent with other evidence recorded in the wider vicinity of the site, which documents an intensely utilised agricultural landscape where archaeological remains are often restricted to shallowly buried and truncated soil features that are interpreted to reflect unspecified later prehistoric activity. At the present site similar evidence for low intensity activity during the prehistoric period was identified along with post medieval and modern features relating to agriculture and previous archaeological work. No important archaeological remains were destroyed as a consequence of the development works. <1>